Coldest night of winter so far in England as temperatures plummet across UK

England saw the coldest night of the winter so far as temperatures tumbled across the UK.

A low of minus 11.7C (10.9F) was recorded at Chillingham Barns in Northumberland in the early hours of Sunday morning, the Met Office said.

Double-digit lows were also recorded further down the east coast at Redesdale, where the mercury sank to minus 10.4C (13.3F), and at Leeming in north Yorkshire where a low of minus 10.8C (12.6F) was observed.

While it was the coldest night of the year so far in England it was not as cold as parts of Scotland, where temperatures fell as far as minus 12.6C (9.3F) at Braemar in the Highlands.

Elsewhere early on Sunday morning, Bala in Gwynedd and Llysdinam in Powys were the coldest spots in Wales, with minus 7.5C (18.5) recorded at both places.

The lowest overnight temperature in Northern Ireland was seen late on Saturday night, when minus 7C (19.4F) was recorded at Katesbridge, Co Down, at around 11.40pm.

Forecasters had spoken of the potential for temperatures to fall far enough for the UK to see the coldest night in nearly a decade, although the early arrival of cloud kept minimums slightly higher than expected.

Nevertheless, two weather warnings are still in place on Sunday morning.

One yellow warning of hill snow and ice for a swathe of western Scotland reaching from Inverness in the north to the outskirts of Glasgow in the south runs until 11am.

Another yellow warning of icy stretches in parts of southern England and East Anglia is in place until the same time.

Later on a further yellow warning of hill snow and ice for central and southern Scotland will kick in at midnight and run until 2pm on Monday.

Respite from the bitter weather that brought severe travel disruption to large parts of the country during the week is on the way.

Bad weather brought travel disruption last week (Ben Birchall/PA)

Met Office meteorologist Simon Partridge told the Press Association: “Things are picking up now as we start to see milder air push in from the south-west through today.

“In south-west England we could see plus 10 (50F), while more broadly across England it could be six (42.8F) or seven (44.6F) degrees.

“Generally we are heading back to normal temperatures for this time of year this week – with a normal British winter situation, so it will be wetter and windier.”